


So Stop Haunting Me

by Lint



Category: Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-21
Updated: 2013-03-21
Packaged: 2017-12-05 23:10:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/728967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lint/pseuds/Lint
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rebekah only nods, not quite letting herself believe. Despite any assurances Stefan wants to give, she knows better than anyone that Caroline has her ways.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Sometimes, she thinks he's the most beautiful boy she's ever met.

Ironic, considering the resemblance. A secret of which he is not yet aware.

Stefan's head rests on her pillow, chest rising with the breath she took from him mere hours ago, that simmering sated feeling still spread throughout her insides. Fingers trace idly along the skin of his arm, exposed just above the sheets, careful not to wake him and smiling when his mouth twitches upward at her touch. Eyes never open, she braves closer to nuzzle her nose against his, and place a quick kiss against sleeping lips before falling off into dreams she finally believes possible.

/\

As with anything in her life, the simple happiness of the last few months comes crashing to halt due to the uninvited blonde standing the in middle of her living room.

“Caroline,” she says, pausing at the sight of her estranged sibling. “What are you doing here?”

She smiles in a way that's sickeningly sweet, betraying all her killer instincts, and instantly puts Rebekah on edge.

“Heard you were back in town,” she answers with a casual wave of her hand. “And I thought to myself, it's been far too long since I've seen my darling sister.”

“Cute,” Rebekah replies with furrowed brows. “What's the real reason?”

“I see you're still working that accent,” Caroline deflects, heading straight for the whiskey and pouring herself a drink. “We were in England almost a century ago, but you still insist on carrying it with you.”

“I've gone back several times since,” she defends. “Besides, it makes me sound distinguished.”

“Guys do love it,” Caroline nods in agreement, sipping her booze. “Speaking of,” she starts, twirling on her feet and pointing a finger at Rebekah. “Saw your boy Stefan.”

Rebekah's hands clench involuntarily, taking an aggressive step toward her sister.

“He's a dead ringer for Kenneth.”

Oh, Rebekah thinks. He's nothing like the charming, handsome vampire that toyed with affections of two southern belles. Disguised as a soldier, the tattered gray uniform hanging from him as he asked for sanctuary. That warm smile of his, those devilish eyes, how easily he could say that he loved and cherished them both. All just games before revealing the monster he truly was.

“He is not Kenneth,” Rebekah says firmly.

“Duh,” Caroline replies, taking another drink. “He's far too warm to be dead.”

Rebekah's eyes go wide. She didn't, she couldn't.

“When did you-”

“Saw him at the Grill,” she explains plopping into a seat. “Went over an introduced myself. Imagine my surprise that he didn't even know you had a sister.”

“I-”

“Oh, I get it.” Caroline goes on. “Poor, tortured, little Rebekah. Still so conflicted with what we are. Still so shy. So insecure.”

“Now listen here-”

“He's so pretty,” she continues. “How did you get his attention anyway? You couldn't have just gone up to him. You would never do that.”

Rebekah feels the shift a millisecond before charging at Caroline, pulling her from the chair, and tossing her halfway across the room. Rushing to meet the spot where she lands, picking her up and pushing her against the wall.

Caroline laughs with her own fang lined grin.

“I touched him,” she taunts. “Oh, such creamy skin.”

/\

It's a wonder she bothered showing up for school at all, head so full of plots and schemes, all designed at getting Caroline to leave town without a body count. She could barely concentrate on her morning classes, let alone follow the lunchtime conversation Stefan and Elena keep trying to engage her in. Something about the decade dance, that much she gleamed, but the details elude her until finally Elena snaps her fingers in front of Rebekah's face.

“Is everything okay?” The brunette asks. “You've been staring off into space for the last twenty minutes.”

Stefan looks at her, the concern clear in his eyes, and she takes his hand gratefully.

“My sister came home,” she offers.

“Sister?” Elena echos. “Since when do you have one?”

“We don't exactly get along,” Rebekah says. “We sort of, pretend the other doesn't exist, as horrible as that sounds.”

That moment Katherine plops herself into a seat next to Elena, snatches some tater tots off her plate without asking, and makes no apology for being late.

“Not so horrible,” Elena replies with a smirk.

/\

“That girl is in love with him,” Caroline says, sloshing her red plastic cup full of ignored beer.

That party rages on around them, bored high school kids and a couple of kegs of stolen brew, any excuse to live it up on the weekend in a town with so little to do. Rebekah's gaze moves over to where Stefan stands with his own cup in hand, talking to Elena, Matt, and Katherine.

“Elena?” Rebekah replies. “Don't be ridiculous. They've been friends since they were in diapers.”

“Not her,” Caroline replies with an easy grin. “The other one.”

Rebekah notices then how close Katherine is standing next to him, how her hand grips his jacket possessively, how she smiles a certain way at every little thing he says.

“Twins, huh? Kinky.”

The shift comes quickly but she's quicker to stop it.

“Easy tiger,” Caroline taunts. “Wouldn't want to turn this shindig into a bloodbath would we?”

“Why are you here?” Rebekah asks tiredly.

“It's a party,” she replies. “I'm a party girl. Here to drink cheap beer and steal your guy.”

“Funny.”

“That's what I missed most about you, Bekah.” Caroline says, dumping the contents of her untouched cup. “Your sparkling sense of humor.”

/\

Stefan knows what she is.

Discovered it the hard way when they were walking through the woods and he tripped and cut his hand open. Blood smelling so sweet she couldn't hold back the temptation, fangs flashing and eyes black. Yes, he was frightened of her initially, who wouldn't react in such a way when discovering the girl you're courting is a monster?

But he didn't run, didn't curse her for hiding the truth, only believed her when she said she'd never hurt him.

Caroline has made no such promise and yet, Stefan exists easily around her. Laughs when she's being ridiculous, holds steadfast when that pent up anger flashes outward, and settles into an odd but actual friendship.

Rebekah warns him constantly to be wary of her, that she's impulsive and reckless, and is never afraid to do what she pleases regardless of consequence. But the silly boy's heart is too pure to judge her sister, attempting to understand instead of dismiss, and the mere act of it unsettles Rebekah to no end.

It all comes crashing to a head when Caroline shows him the picture. The one she'd thought thoroughly hidden. The one she should have burned long ago but could never bring herself to. The look on Stefan's face is enough to break her heart. To see in his eyes that the trust built between them was all for naught with such a big omission.  
He leaves and she almost doesn't let him go, the one fleeting thought that she could make it all go away tempting her very soul, but he walks out the door and she just watches.

/\

When the call comes she stares at the phone is disbelief. Stefan is in Georgia with Caroline, caught in a road trip that's half kidnapping-half escape, with assurances that he's fine and she shouldn't worry despite days of silence between them.

“Has she hurt you?” Rebekah asks. “Are you being held against your will?”

“No,” is his reply. “She just, uh, asked me if I wanted to get out of here and I didn't say no.”

“I'm coming after you,” she says, already walking toward the car.

“Don't,” Stefan replies. “I'm okay, and-what? No I'm not going to say tha-hey!”

“Not to worry Rebekah,” says Caroline, Stefan voicing his objection of her phone snatching ways in the background. “I'll take extra good care of him.”

/\

Much to her shock, Caroline brings Stefan back no worse for the wear. Ten fingers, ten toes, and all five liters of blood intact. She is furious with her sister, ready to pick a fight the second she exits the car, but Stefan approaches her first.

“We should talk,” he says.

Eyes still on Caroline, she nods her agreement, as Stefan takes her hand and leads her away.

There's a trail behind her house that leads to the old cemetery, where they happened to cross paths that fateful day, she heading there to visit her mother's grave and he doing the same. He stops to sit on an old tree stump and waits for her to join him. It's painfully awkward silence while both try to find the courage and speak. Stefan, braver than she in the moment, goes first.

“Why do I look like him?” he asks, expression serious.

She's been waiting for this conversation to come, seconds to minutes to hours to days, ticking away in her mind. The curiosity would take over the shock, she knew, just as she knows he wants answers to a question she's been asking herself since they met.

“I don't know,” she replies. “Believe me when I say that I would tell you if I did. When I saw you that day, I couldn't believe it. You looked so much like him I-” She pauses, staring down at her feet. “I had to know you. Upon doing that it was so clear to see you weren't him. Kenneth. His heart was black if you want to be poetic about it, he played Caroline and I for lovesick fools.”

“Yeah,” Stefan offers, looking off into the trees. “She said as much.”

“Oh?” Rebekah asks. “And what else did she say?”

“That he's the reason you're a vampire. That he made you. Her too. That he promised you both eternity and disappeared the second it happened.”

“That much is true.”

“She didn't show me to hurt you,” he says, to which she can't help but scoff. “She thought I should know the truth.”

“The truth hurts, you know.”

“So do secrets.”

They look at each other.

“Is it,” he starts, laughs softly to himself. “Is it hard to see my face every day? Knowing who I look like, knowing what he did?”

“I'd say it's just the opposite,” she replies, reaching for his hand.

“I asked Caroline the same question,” he admits.

“Her answer?”

“Pretty much the same.”

Rebekah looks at their entwined fingers.

“You are not him,” she says softly. “You are kind, and selfless, and wonderful. That is why I fancy you.”

Then, softer, “it's why she fancies you too.”

Her mind shifts to that day, all those years ago, when Caroline disappeared for weeks without a word. And when she came back it wasn't the sister she knew. The promise she made, about misery loving company, and theirs being bound in blood.

“Hey,” he begins, hand covering hers. “Things are weird right now. I mean, this is a lot to take in, but I still-” His eyes find hers. “You know you don't have to worry about that, right?”

Rebekah only nods, not quite letting herself believe. Despite any assurances Stefan wants to give, she knows better than anyone that Caroline has her ways.

It wouldn't be the first time.

/\

Caroline is stoking a fire, bourbon in hand, when Rebekah returns to the house. The anger, dissipated at Stefan's willingness to speak with her, comes flooding back at the sight of such nonchalance.

“What was it that I did?” she asks, fists clenching at her sides. “That you insist on steamrolling back into my life and mucking it all up?”

Caroline doesn't reply, drink swirling in her hand, stabbing at a log with the poker.

“Oh please,” Rebekah continues, rolling her eyes at the silence. “At the very least you can answer me. You owe me that much.”

“Owe you?” Caroline replies with an incredulous laugh. “If there ever was a debt between us, it was paid long ago.”

“Then what?” Rebekah insists. “For seventy years it was you and I against the world. Sisters in death as much as we ever were in life. Then you just disappear without an explanation, a note, anything. And when you come back I'm public enemy number one.”

“You really want to know?” Caroline seethes through clenched teeth, smashing her glass into the fire and pointing the poker directly at her sister's heart. “Fine. I found him.”

It takes a full second to realize who.

“Kenneth?”

“Chicago,” Caroline goes on, eyes ablaze with a pain still freshly afflicted after so much time. “1933.”

Rebekah watches her sister's face carefully, knowing she's always been a terrible liar, seeing nothing but anguished truth written all over it.

“At first he didn't even recognize me, which okay, seventy years is a long time but I was still hurt. Even when I told him who I was it didn't matter. He wasn't interested. After all his promises of the world being ours he didn't want me. He moved on, the son of a bitch, and suggested I do the same.”

Caroline steps toward her, looking Rebekah dead in the eye.

“But he made a point to ask about you dear sister,” she says, voice sharp. “Sweet, innocent Rebekah. The one they always pick.”

/\

It's not as if she means to eavesdrop.

Really.

After Stefan kissed her goodnight at the bottom of the stairs, she merely waited for the sound of the door before heading back up to her room. When it didn't come in the time she assumed, she took a few steps into the hall, pausing at the sound of their voices.

“Hey,” Stefan says, recognizable concern in his tone. “How are you?”

“Spectacular,” comes Caroline's reply.

There's a pause where Rebekah wants so much to peek her head around the corner, but somehow stays put.

“Well I'm glad.”

“Thank you.”

Another pause.

“Heading home?”

“Yeah, school night.”

A third pause.

“Are you going to ask whatever it is you want to ask me?”

The sound of Stefan's self conscious chuckle makes Rebekah's nails stab into her palms.

“Rebekah said something.”

“Rebekah says a lot of things.”

“About you.”

“So, so, so many things about me.”

Another self conscious laugh. She may draw blood.

“About you fancying me.”

“Well that girl did always love to gossip.”

“I'm with her, Caroline.”

“Duh.”

“I just need you to understand.”

“Don't worry, champ. You let me down easy.”

Footsteps make their way toward the door, Rebekah hears it open.

“Hey Stefan,” Caroline calls after him. “We'll always have Georgia.”


	2. Chapter 2

When Stefan gets taken again, there is no phone call, only a vague text from the boy in question.

 

_Guy in mask. Back of car. Help._

 

Not her sister's mischief this time. Something dangerous. Something real.

 

She tries calling but it goes straight to voice mail, leading her to believe whoever has him discovered the phone. Fear and rage fuel her like nothing before, cornering Caroline, letting all the pain and frustration of the last few decades erupt.

 

“This is all your fault!”

 

Caroline, taken aback, throws her hands up in defense.

 

“How could it possibly-”

 

“Your little road trip,” Rebekah interrupts. “Kenneth was a right bastard, if you recall, I'm sure he's made many enemies over the years. Someone must have seen him with you. They probably think-”

 

“Stefan is Kenneth,” Caroline finishes.

 

“All caught up then?”

 

“We need to find him.”

 

“The GPS in his phone-”

 

“Please,” Caroline retorts. “I've got people.”

 

+

 

Witches are her people, it turns out, and many of them owe her favors.

 

Sheila Bennett is one who just happens to live in Mystic Falls, and though she severely distrusts vampires, is willing to help for Stefan's sake. There's a fourth for their little session, a girl Rebekah recognizes as one of Elena's friends, Bonnie.

 

Guess the secret is out now, Rebekah thinks, trying to come up with some fathomable story as to why she'd need to employ her grandmother's witch-y services.

 

“She's fine,” Sheila says, staring directly at Rebekah as if she read her mind. “Do you have what I need?”

 

Rebekah holds the bag with a few strands of Stefan's hair.

 

“Totally creepy you had these ready to order,” Caroline says, snatching the bag from Rebekah's hand and placing it in Sheila's.

 

“He sleeps in my bed,” Rebekah replies with a pointed look, noticing Bonnie's muted snicker.

 

There's a map on the kitchen table, herbs that drive her sinuses crazy, and fire to point the way. Rebekah is surprised that it's Bonnie, under her grandmother's watchful eye, powering the spell. A few minutes in there's a black dot in rural Kentucky, and Sheila's upturned brow telling them they have their answer.

 

+

 

It's been years since she's seen so much blood, let alone her own, spilling out from the gaping hole left in her mid section. The broken piece of staircase responsible for the damage lay on the floor next to her hand, looking at it with blurring vision, she can't even raise an arm to wipe the sweat from her brow.

 

Caroline will get Stefan out, she trusts that much from her sister, and maybe she won't have died in vain.

 

It feels like hours before hands are suddenly on her, too weak to shrug away, until recognizing their voices.

 

“We need to get her out of here.”

  
Stefan.

 

“Step aside Romeo, I got this.”

 

Caroline.

 

Lifted up suddenly, she feels like a cloud drifting away, eyes threatening to roll back into her head until Stefan comes into view. One hand on her cheek, he scurries to keep up with Caroline's purposeful stride.

 

“Will she heal?” Stefan asks.

 

“She needs blood.”

 

They set her down in the backseat of the car, Stefan sliding in next to her.

 

“What are you doing?” Caroline wonders aloud.

 

“She needs blood,” he repeats. “Drive.”

 

In motion now, her eyes still don't want to focus, but she feels Stefan shift against her until his neck brushes along her lips. She manages a weak 'no' before his hand is firm on the back of her head, keeping her there.

 

“I trust you,” he says in a whisper. Over and over again.

 

_I trust you._

 

/\

 

Stefan and Caroline are sitting on the couch in the living room.

 

The sight gives her pause, not sure if she likes this new bonded in battle appreciation they have for each other. Stefan looks up with an automatic smile, which quell her doubts for now. The old picture is atop the table, bringing on a scowl.

 

“What are you doing with that?” She asks, taking a seat.

 

“One good thing came out of what happened,” Stefan answers, finger tapping on the photo.

 

“Do tell,” Rebekah mutters, hand moving to her stab wound, despite it being fully healed.

 

“We know why I look like him.”

 

 _We?_ She thinks, bristling inwardly.

 

“He's a doppelganger,” Caroline interjects.

 

“A what?”

 

“A Salvatore doppelganger,” Stefan elaborates.

 

“That means what exactly?” Rebekah wonders, eyes bouncing between the picture on the table and the boy on the couch.

 

“Not sure,” Stefan answers. “The vampires who took me weren't big on sharing except for that little gem. But it's something.”

 

“Something to get us started in finding out what the hell is going on around here,” Caroline assures.

 

 _We_ , Rebekah thinks again. _Us._

 

Keeping a straight face is a task she never imagined being so difficult.

 

/\

 

The fifties weren't a particularly memorable decade for her, the only thing worth note was meeting James Dean in a coffee shop, before he got famous. Other than that she lived most of it in New York, worked for a newspaper, and smoked too much. Looking back she tends to dwell on the negative: McCarthyism, sexism, racism, and the constant threat of nuclear annihilation. So the thought of a dance themed after such a time, amuses her greatly.

 

The sight of Stefan when he picks her up, all rolled up jeans and leather jacket, hair slicked with grease and a motorcycle just over his shoulder, has her wondering if she'd forgotten the things to be more fond.

 

The event is in full swing when they arrive, though her ears feel violated by the modern rendition of a classic song, she still pulls Stefan out to the floor despite feeble attempts to convince her he doesn't really dance. Half a minute in, it's clearly a lie, moving well enough to the music as to not embarrass himself.

 

Scanning the crowd she spots Elena and Matt dancing a few feet away, Bonnie (who quickly averts her eyes) with Jeremy beyond them, and Katherine leading Tyler Lockwood around like a little lost puppy. Caroline stands in the far corner of the gym, dressed in a somewhat conservative skirt and sweater combo, watching everyone like a hawk.

 

It's a bit disconcerting, how protective she's gotten of Stefan since the Kentucky incident, always around in some form or another. Stefan doesn't seem to notice, or mention it if he does, insisting time and again that she has nothing to worry about.

 

They dance most of the night away, he brings her punch, and they talk with his friends who she's slowly come to realize are her friends too. Almost midnight, they're slowly spinning to Blue Velvet, when she says 'I love you' into the hollow of his neck. When she looks up to gauge his reaction, he just kisses her as if he never had before.

 

The only damper on such a perfect evening are the dead girls found in the parking lot.

 

/\

 

Four more people are dead within a week.

 

The company line is animal attacks, but anyone with half a brain knows it something far more sinister. Bonnie corners Rebekah in the hall, which feels somewhat out of place, as the only interaction they've shared outside the group was in her grandmother's kitchen.

 

“I know what you are,” she says in a way that's supposed to sound tougher than it does.

 

“Congratulations,” Rebekah replies drolly.

 

“Whatever is happening needs to stop.”

 

“I agree,” Rebekah says, attempting to side step away when a flash of pain blinds her vision.

 

Still coherent enough to grab Bonnie by the throat, she slams the girl into the nearest wall, hissing menacingly as the pain evaporates as quickly as it appeared. Fear overtaking the young witch's mojo.

 

“Just because I'm a vampire doesn't mean I'm the one responsible,” said through a fanged snarl. “You'd think the persecution of your kind would lead you to be a little less judgmental.”

 

Rebekah lets her go, slumping to the floor, and gasping for breath.

 

“I'm sorry,” she says in all sincerity. “That it came to that, but I am not some soulless killing machine.”

 

Bonnie looks up at her, defiance clear in her eyes.

 

“What about your sister?”

 

/\

 

Despite her petty jealousies, things between she and Caroline have vastly improved since her cathartic confession. Though her sister still drives her mad with rash decision making, a penchant for drama, and blatant affections for Stefan, their relationship is almost as it used to be.

 

The doubt, however, eats away at her thoughts. Because she knows what Caroline is capable of and, until now, it has never occurred to her to ask how she's been feeding because there hasn't been a body count.

 

When she does ask, the reaction is as expected.

 

“Are you being serious right now?”

 

“I just need to know.”

 

“You should already know!” Caroline shouts. “God Bekah, give me a little credit here. I'm not going to fly off the rails and start killing our fair citizens for no reason.”

 

“Not even because you want what you can't have?”

 

The look Caroline gives could wither even the strongest of people.

 

“So that's what this is about,” she says coolly. “You can't stand the fact that I'm so chummy with your boyfriend.”

 

Rebekah opens her mouth, finds no words to defend herself, and snaps it shut. Caroline folds her arms across her chest, rolls her eyes toward the ceiling, before leveling her gaze back to her sister.

 

“It's not about me feeling something for Stefan,” she says evenly. “You're afraid that he might care right back.”

 

Rebekah chews the inside of her cheek, says nothing.

 

“The bodies are calling cards,” Caroline continues. “Someone is trying to send us a message.”

 

“What kind of message?”

 

“You have no idea, do you?” Caroline asks. “While you're off playing the lovesick schoolgirl, rumors of a doppelganger in Mystic Falls are spreading like a gossip on the internet. Who do you think is keeping the threats away?”

 

Rebekah's cheeks flush with embarrassment, shame, and guilt for doubting so easily despite the many years she's felt it earned.

 

“I didn't-”

 

“No you didn't,” Caroline says flatly. “But don't worry Rebekah. Keep going to dances, on motorcycle rides, or make out sessions at the falls. Because at the end of the day, I'm the one keeping him alive.”


	3. Chapter 3

Strange to think that Caroline, of all people, is the one to knock some sense into her. Once her focus shifts from Stefan the boyfriend to Stefan the doppelganger, she can finally see what her sister had tried to tell her. It's like a dark shadow descent upon the town, always a beacon for the supernatural, the influx of the last few days a clear warning sign of the danger ahead.

 

It's frustrating being caught in the dark of what Stefan's existence means to the world. Not knowing how or why they need to be stopped, only that they must. The argument she and Caroline get into over whether or not to tell him nearly tears the house down.

 

“Name one time,” Caroline insists. “In the history of anything, that ignorance has ever protected anyone.”

 

So they tell him and, much to her chagrin, he takes it fairly well. Even jokes about being the luckiest guy in the room having to smoking hot bodyguards watching his back. It's that moment that Rebekah understands he doesn't realize just what kind of protection they had in mind.

 

“No way,” he says with a swift shake of his head. “I've already been locked up against my will, what makes you think I'd volunteer for it?”

 

“It's this or dead,” Caroline says.

 

“Hiding isn't living,” Stefan shoots back.

 

“I could make you,” She threatens, eyes focusing into his.

 

“Do it,” he replies, not stepping down. “And I'll never forgive you.”

 

“At least you'd be alive to hate me.”

 

“I didn't say I'd ha-”

 

Rebekah clears her throat loud enough to get their attention, refraining from uttering: _I'm still here._

 

Stefan looks at both of them.

 

“We'll find another way,” he says, stepping out of the room and toward the door. “It's still light out, I'm probably safe, and I'm going home. You two can decide who takes first shift or whatever.”

 

He leaves without looking back.

 

Neither girl moves to stop him.

 

/\

 

The sun is just beginning to dip behind the treeline when Rebekah slinks an arm into the sleeve of her jacket, heading for the door and over to Stefan's. Caroline catches her before she makes it past the porch, slips two stakes into her palm, and offers a blade big enough to cut the head off of anything.

 

“Where did you get-”

 

“I'm always prepared,” Caroline interrupts.

 

“Yes, I imagine many people have tried to kill you.”

 

Caroline actually laughs at the joke, offering a shrug as if to say 'what can you do?' Rebekah looks down at weapons, knows she will use them however she must, knows that Caroline will too.

 

“How much do you care?” She asks.

 

“More than you want me to,” Caroline offers. “More than I can help.”

 

“We're going to have to talk about this.”

 

“Let's not, okay?”

 

Rebekah sighs, putting the stakes in her pocket, and clipping the blade to her belt.

 

“Maybe it'd be easier if his brother were around,” Caroline kids with a lift of her brow.

 

“I've met Damon,” Rebekah says backing away. “You wouldn't get on.”

 

/\

 

_He's not moving. He's not moving. He's not moving_.

 

Her thoughts are a single statement, repeated again and again. Stefan lay on the ground, neck slicked with blood, life slowly fading away.

 

“No,” comes out in a sharp whisper. “No, no, no.”

 

It was a mistake attending the Miss Mystic Falls banquet, she knew it the minute he tried to use his status as a founding family member to guilt her into agreeing. Hard to say no to that baby face, she naively thought she and Caroline would be enough to keep him safe.

 

Lesson learned. Whoever is behind this, their numbers are more, their ambition ravenous. Stefan is dying because she wasn't strong enough.

 

Hand to his chest, breath slowly fading, she knows what to do.

 

Gnashing her wrist, she lets a few drops trickle onto his mouth, hope threatening to bloom when his lips part slightly. Pushing closer, she forces more down his throat, each swallow offering encouragement to a light all but faded.

 

His eyes don't open, but his heart sounds stronger, breathing slow but steady. So relieved, she cups his face in her hands, and presses a kiss against bloody lips.

 

For one shameful, fleeting moment, she's tempted to just _twist_ and keep him forever.

 

/\

 

Caroline is furious.

 

About what happened to Stefan. About being blindsided. About not being strong enough to stop it.

 

Rebekah can't blame her anger, feeling ridiculously inadequate herself, knowing her sister suffers from the same insecurities. They don't like being left to feel foolish, useless, or powerless. The events of the last few weeks have done nothing to quell any of these feelings, only a constant slap in the face that they're simply in over their heads.

 

It took nearly dying for Stefan to fully understand the weight of the situation, now not as resistant to their ideas for his protection. He goes to school, heads straight home, stays indoors. They give vervain jewelery to his closest friends so he doesn't turn into a total hermit.

 

A kiss goodnight in his doorway, she listens to him bound up the stairs, before turning her attention back to the long drive in front of his house. Caroline rounds the corner, moving to stand next to her on the porch, twirling a stake in her hand.

 

“All clear in back,” she says, still scanning their surroundings.

 

Rebekah nods, head tilted slightly, listening to the sounds of night.

 

“We can't do this forever,” she says after a few minutes.

 

Caroline nods her agreement. “Let's just turn him.”

 

“I don't think he wants that.”

 

“Have you two never talked about it?”

 

Rebekah shakes her head.

 

“You should know,” she starts, castling a sidelong glance. “That I appreciate all that you've done.”

 

Caroline shrugs nonchalantly.

 

“I mean it.”

 

“I heard you, now shut up.”

 

Rebekah smiles, looking back to the drive and listening for anything out of place.

 

/\

 

Katherine and Elena are in the hospital.

 

Tyler Lockwood, too.

 

Apparently they missed a lot, skipping the Founder's Day celebration, and the attack that ensued. The company line is some kind of gang activity, but word on the street that was something off about the people doing the damage. No one has to guess as to what exactly is meant by 'off.'

 

The three weren't involved in the mayhem, however, but a car accident. One, according to Elena, that was caused by some kind of sound only Tyler could hear. Rebekah and Caroline share a look, both victims of that mysterious sound earlier in the night, both wondering just how the hell Tyler heard it too.

 

Tyler has a bruised sternum and a concussion. Elena has a broken wrist. Katherine worst for the wear with a ruptured spleen and internal bleeding. The doctors aren't sure they can do everything they need to, and Rebekah stands helpless while Elena clings to Stefan sobbing uncontrollably. Stefan's eyes catch hers and she knows what he means to ask.

 

Elena leaves the room, only under Caroline's suggestion, the bracelet Stefan had given her removed in place of her cast.

 

“I know it seems like a quick fix,” Rebekah says. “But the connotations are so much more than that.”

 

“It's not just one life in the balance here,” Stefan says, looking at Katherine's unconscious form. “If she dies Elena will never recover.”

 

He looks to her, to Caroline.

 

“Please,” he says. “They're my oldest friends. They're my best friends.”

 

Rebekah opens her mouth to answer, but Caroline beats her to the punch.

 

“Fine,” she says, moving quickly to close the door. “You two keep a look out. I don't feel like compelling an entire hospital staff because some nosy nurse wants to know what we're doing.”

 

“Thank you,” Stefan says with all sincerity.

 

Rebekah stands there, not saying a word.

 

/\

 

She leaves Stefan in the room with Caroline, passing Elena on the way out, heading for the exit feeling like she's just disappointed him in a way he'll say he forgives but never actually does. It burns helplessly at her insecurities, flushing her cheeks scarlet, and putting an extra stomp in her walk.

 

Five steps outside the hospital when Stefan comes running up, hand to her elbow, pulling her to stop.

 

“Hey,” he says, spinning her to face him. “Where are you going?”

 

“I needed some air,” she says, turning her head away so he can't see the lie written on her face.

 

“It's okay,” he assures, taking her chin in his hand tilting her gaze back to him. “That you didn't want to. I shouldn't have-”

 

“I would have,” she says, putting her hand over his. “I just, I don't know, froze in the moment. But I would have done it for you, Stefan. I would do so many things for-”

 

He cuts her off with a kiss.

 

“I believe you.”

 

/\

 

Rebekah's jaw drops open at the sight.

 

Stefan and Caroline kissing on his front porch.

 

She'd think it a nightmare if every detail weren't so vivid. His hand cupping her jaw, her hands clutching his shirt, the push and pull of sheer ecstasy on both their faces. She'd scream if she weren't so stunned, but what pulls her back to reality is the hand squeezing hers.

 

“What the hell?” Stefan says at her side.

 

The kiss is broken, Caroline seeing the two of them standing on the walk, and to her credit recoils instantly upon the realization.

 

“Always a pleasure Caroline,” he says with a slight bow.

 

Kenneth turns to them, offering a snake oil grin.

 

“You must be Stefan.”    


	4. Chapter 4

Katherine is a vampire.

 

While Rebekah has always thought Elena more of a friend, they're kind of a package deal, and she wouldn't have wished this fate on either of them. For a moment she just stands there, hand on her hip, looking confident as ever.

 

“Kathy?” Stefan asks, taking a step forward, but Rebekah reaches over and grabs his arm.

 

“I have a message,” Katherine says, looking only at Stefan. “From Kenneth. He says, 'we're going to have so much fun together.'”

 

She's gone in a blink, leaving them both stunned.

 

“Elena,” Stefan mutters, breaking the moment. “Oh god, what are we going to tell Elena?”

 

She doesn't know what to say, only reaches for his hand and finds it shaking.

 

“It's my fault,” he goes on, still staring at the spot where she stood. “If I hadn't asked-”

 

“She'd be dead,” Rebekah finishes.

 

“Isn't she now?”

 

That she has no answer for.

 

/\

 

The dream shakes her awake, ever fading visions of a life not lived, eyes opening to a blur of white cotton.

 

“Bad dream?”

 

“Mmm,” she mumbles onto his chest, open palm sliding up his side, trying to snuggle her way back to sleep.

 

A second later she bolts upright from the bed, halfway across the room before turning back to him.

 

“Kenneth,” she says glaring.

 

“Morning sunshine,” he replies with an easy grin.

 

“What are you doing here?” She asks. “Didn't think I'd see you again so soon after running away that night on the porch.”

 

“Now is that anyway to say hello?” He replies with a pout. “Manners.”

 

For a moment she considers the options. All possible escape routes are cut off by the simple fact that he's faster than her. Same for attempting to grab a weapon. She doesn't move as he rises from the bed, nosing around the room, and idly poking at her things.

 

“Tell me what you're doing here,” she reiterates. “Please.”

 

“That's more like it,” he replies, fingers running along the spines of her books. “Maybe I missed you.”

 

“I find that hard to believe.”

 

He comes to a stop a few feet away, hands clasped in front if him. “Don't be that way, Bekah.”

 

“No,” she says shaking her head. “Only Caroline calls me that.”

 

“Not even your gentleman in wait?” He shoots back.

She only glares harder.

 

“I do understand the appeal, those devastatingly handsome features, how could you resist?”

 

“You came because of Stefan.”

 

He taps a finger on his nose. “Too true. It's not every day you hear there's another doppelganger running around. With your sister no less. My, my, how tawdry.”

 

“It isn't like that.”

 

“Oh no? If the other night told you anything, it's that old times are new again.”

 

He moves closes enough to play with the ends of her hair, she stands frozen.

 

“You needn't worry about me, darling girl, I'd still destroy the sun and moon for you.”

 

/\

 

There's a dead man on a flatbed truck.

 

Elena kneels on the pavement, tears streaming down her cheeks, mixing with the blood that stains her mouth. Bonnie stands a few feet away, too afraid to go near her friend, anguish and astonishment etched on her face. Stefan has no such hesitation, kneeling down and wrapping his arms around the dark-haired girl.

 

“No,” Bonnie says. “You aren't, you can't be.”

 

Elena looks up, the fear in her eyes striking Rebekah in a familiar way, that first kill a choice never you never had. Bonnie turns to Rebekah, the pain ripping her skull in two, collapsing to the ground and clutching wildly at her temples.

 

“Bonnie stop!” She can hear Stefan shout, sounding so far away.

 

“How many people Stefan?” Bonnie asks. “How many have to die so they can live?”

 

“She didn't do this! It's not her fault!”

 

“It's all their fault.”

 

The world disappears in a growing orange glow, heat and pain consuming her, mouth opening to scream but no sound escapes. One hundred and forty-five years and she could never see the end until this moment. Then suddenly a reprieve, all the fire and agony gone in an instant.

 

Eyes open to see Stefan with his arms around Bonnie, breaking her concentration, Elena frozen in the same spot watching it all unfold.

 

“Why did you stop me?”

 

“You were going to kill her!”

 

Rebekah tries to push herself up, stumbles, and tries again. Stefan lets Bonnie go, moves over to her, grabbing the crook of her elbow to hold her steady.

 

“Elena,” she says, walking over to her and offering a hand. “Come with me.”

 

/

 

The girl doesn't say a word, only stares blankly at the blood stained reflection in the mirror, while Rebekah grabs handfuls of paper towel trying to wipe away the mess as best she can.

 

“Am I dead?” Elena asks softly.

 

Rebekah gets more water, dabs more and more across her chin.

 

“In a way, yes.”

 

“I killed that man,” she says. “I didn't mean to. I didn't even think about it. He just smelled so good and I...” Letting out a shaky breath she looks as if she'll cry again. “How could this happen?”

 

Rebekah pulls her into a hug, chin on her shoulder, hands smoothing out her hair.

 

“Kenneth is a monster,” she offers. “Bloodshed and mayhem are games to him.”

 

Elena pulls back, a look of confusion on her face.

 

“Who's Kenneth?”

 

/\

 

“Seriously?” Caroline exclaims, throwing both her hands in the air. “Both of them?”

 

Rebekah sits on the couch next to Stefan, watching her sister pace about the room. Elena sits in one of the chairs, glass in hand, sipping the B Negative given to her from Caroline's private stock.

 

“It's not as if we have enough problems,” she goes on. “What with our psycho ex running around. But now two baby fresh vamps, one living it up for all it's worth and the other looking like she wants to drown herself under the Wickery Bridge, to deal with?”

 

If Elena takes offense to the bridge comment, she doesn't show it, taking sip after sip and staring at the floor. Stefan's concern radiates off him in waves. She might be a little jealous were the circumstances any different, even if she's never had to worry about this particular Gilbert sister in the romantic sense, their closeness is something of a wonder.

 

“What's his plan?” Stefan asks. “I mean, there has to be more to it than just showing up and stirring the pot.”

 

Rebekah casts a sidelong glance at him, resisting the urge to trace her finger along his jaw. They've hardly had a moment alone since Kenneth's return and the madness that ensued. Bumping her knee against his, she smiles softly when he takes her hand in his, thinking it rather funny just how easily he sits in a room full of vampires.

 

“Plan?” Caroline scoffs. “Kenneth is a kid with an ant farm. Shake it up and watch it go.”

 

/\

 

There's a tomb underneath the ruins of an old church, where the bones of twelve dead vampires lay. One hundred and forty-five years ago, they tried to break a curse that bound them to the sun, and it failed catastrophically. Missing just one essential element.

 

“The doppelganger,” Stefan says quietly, his gaze weighing heavy with the revelation.

 

Sheila Bennett is full of surprises this afternoon, showing up on Rebekah's doorstep unannounced, sharing all this information out of the kindness of her heart. Caroline stands off to the side, arms folded and face blank against this new lore.

 

Both she and Rebekah know the church in question, remember it burning down mere nights before Kenneth turned them.

 

“Why are you telling us this?” Rebekah asks. “Why now?”

 

“Because there are signs too strong for me to ignore,” Sheila explains. “Because despite no longer being human, the one who made you was still drawn to this place.”

 

Drawn to this place, Rebekah thinks. 1864. A boy in a tattered uniform shows up on their doorstep, not knowing where he is, or how he got there. So charming. So persuasive.

 

“It's happening again,” Caroline announces to the room. “Got your doppelganger right there, Kenneth coming back, and all the vampires flocking here like it's freaking Mardi Gras.”

 

“You're absolutely sure?” Rebekah asks, to which Sheila only gives a knowing smirk.

 

“Just because a witch dies, doesn't mean she runs out of things to say.”

 

/\

 

“This is so stupid,” Caroline mutters, trying to shake the cobwebs off her hand.

 

“It would be stupid not to look,” Rebekah replies.

 

“Oh, I'm not questioning Sheila's intel,” Caroling assures. “If she says some stones are down here, they're down here. We're going in blind, that's all. If this thing is as big as she said, we're not going to be the only ones scouring around.”

 

“How long have you know her?”

 

“Met her in '67. So full of piss and vinegar. She was one Bennett witch you didn't want to mess with. Still isn't.”

 

Rebekah casts a quick look behind her, making sure Stefan is still there. He is, just oddly quiet.

 

“Are you all right?”

 

He feigns a reassuring smile, difficult to see in the encroaching darkness, ever for her.

 

“I can feel something,” he says. “Something calling me.”

 

“Yeah,” Caroline pipes up. “Tons of witchy hoodoo in this hole.”

 

A few minutes later they find it, a door, seemingly out of place among the walls of rock and looks anything but welcoming. Stefan brushes past them, placing his palm flat against the surface.

 

“You're right Caroline,” he says. “Others have been here.”

 

“How do you know that?”

 

“They never made it in though,” he continues as if she hadn't said anything, running his hand back and forth until a distinct click echoes throughout the cave.

 

Rebekah's instinct causes the hair on her neck to rise, wanting to reach out to him and keep that door from opening, but is too late when he pushes it inward.

 

“Don't follow me,” he says suddenly.

 

“What?” She exclaims the same time as Caroline's “hell no.”

 

“If you do,” he continues. “You're not coming out.”

 

He steps inside before either can stop him, both freezing at the entrance, unhappy about the circumstances but still willing to heed his warning.

 

Ten minutes pass and Rebekah hasn't moved from the doorway, occasionally calling after him and getting no response.

 

“You're going to drive yourself crazy,” Caroline sighs. “You're driving me crazy.”

 

“Forgive me for worrying,” Rebekah fires back, still staring into the tomb. “It happens when you love someone.”

 

“He's stronger than you think.”

 

“Is that why you kissed him?”

 

Rebekah doesn't have to move her head to know how uncomfortable she's just made the space.

 

“I kissed Kenneth.”

 

“Who you thought was Stefan.”

 

“Are we really going to talk about this now?”

 

“If it were up to you we wouldn't talk about it at all.”

 

“Duh.”

 

“Caroline-”

 

“Fine. I'm kind of in love with him. Which you already know, by the way. You're just making me say it so you can have a reason to hate me again.”

 

“I've never hated you,” Rebekah sighs. “No matter how horrible you were to me.”

 

“Yeah,” Caroline clucks her tongue. “Sorry about that. Issues.”

 

Rebekah shakes her head.

 

“You really have no idea how much I missed you. How much I wished that one day you'd just show up and it would be like it was. We can have that again, Caroline. Really. I'm not going to let your feelings for Stefan take that away, do you understand?”

 

Caroline doesn't reply, and Rebekah manages to tear her eyes away to look back.

 

“Is this the part where he hug?”

 

“My god,” Rebekah laughs. “You'll never grow up, will you?”

 

“No fun in that, Bekah.” Caroline says with a grin. “No fun at all.”

 

They're quiet a moment.

 

“You don't have to worry,” she offers. “I mean, I'm not going to-”

 

“Thank you,” Rebekah cuts her off.

 

Footsteps in the darkness, making their way toward her, as Rebekah's head snaps back to the door. Stefan's form slowly reveals itself against the black, a look of wonderment on his face, two stones seemingly aglow in his hands.

 

One as pale as the moon.

 

The other, bright as the sun.  


	5. Chapter 5

“So now what?” Caroline asks, leaning against the counter in Stefan's kitchen.

 

The house is empty, his father away on business again, and Damon still stationed in North Carolina. Rebekah never thought to question just how he's been able to stay over so often, content at being able to spend such long stretches of time together, not realizing the alternative was a vacant home surrounded in solitude.

 

He hasn't said a word, other than the muted request to be taken here, after retrieving the stones. It grows worrisome the way he stares so intently at them, as if he's on the receiving end of a conversation she and Caroline aren't privy to, the rest of the world all but fading away.

 

“Hey!” Caroline prods, snapping her fingers in front of his face. “Focus. What are we supposed to do with these things?”

 

She makes like she's going to pry them out of his hands, and Stefan snatches them away so quick Caroline staggers back.

 

“Seriously?” Comes out incredulous, catching her sister's eye.

 

Rebekah places a hand on his shoulder, only to flinch as he shrugs away.

 

“Sorry,” he says distantly. “I just-you shouldn't touch them.”

 

“I'm starting to think you shouldn't either,” she states flatly.

 

He doesn't look at her, only at his hands.

 

“We need to talk to Sheila,” Caroline offers. “She's the one who told us to go fetch in the first place.”

 

“Agreed,” Rebekah replies.

 

Stefan doesn't offer an opinion.

 

/\

 

Sheila opens the door before anyone can knock, a look of expectation in her eyes.

 

“Didn't think it would take you that long,” she taunts, stepping aside to allow them entry.

 

“He asked to go home afterward,” Rebekah replies.

 

“And you took him there why?”

 

Neither she, nor Caroline, have an answer though in hindsight, it does seem counterproductive. They take seats at the kitchen table, Stefan preferring to stand, and Rebekah is not at all surprised to see Bonnie there. They exchange a look, but no words are spoken, the carnival incident still fresh in their minds.

 

Stefan is still in his catatonic stupor, her concern growing manic with each passing second, but somehow keeping her revere. Sheila looks at him, still clinging to the stones, and reaches out. Caroline opens her mouth to warn her, but a few Latin words uttered, and she successfully places her hands over Stefan's.

 

Rebekah can see his eyes clear immediately, as he shakes his head and looks around seemingly unaware of where he is or how he got here.

 

“Ms. Bennett?”

 

“Welcome back,” she responds without a hint of humor. “They're spelled,” she goes on, holding up the stones for all to see. “Bonded to the one who will bring their energy's release.”

 

Stefan almost collapses back, Rebekah and Caroline quick to hold him up by each of his arms. They settle him into a seat, Rebekah asking for a glass of water, to which Bonnie obliges. All eyes on him, she'd swear he's flushing with embarrassment, before gulping down the water gratefully.

 

“They spoke to me,” he says to the room. “They said I'm the one.”

 

“The doppelganger is the key,” Sheila offers.

 

“Yeah,” Rebekah inserts. “But what does that mean?”

 

“It means,” Stefan starts, setting the glass down on the table. “That I alone can break the curse.”

 

Everyone jumps as the back door is kicked violently open, Kenneth leaning forward as far as the lack of invitation will allow, an easy grin on his lips.

 

“Now,” he says, gaze focusing on Stefan. “Why would you want to do a silly thing like that?”

 

/\

 

Elena is waiting in the living room when they return home with Kenneth's ultimatum, give him the stones or the town would rain with blood, still fresh in their ears. A whole day given to think it over. Stefan takes pause at his friend just standing there, her head tilted anxiously at him.

 

“Katherine?”

 

Her smile is instant, and he moves without a second thought, pulling her into a hug.

 

“Only you,” she says, wrapping her arms around him. “Could ever tell us apart.”

 

“Where have you been?” He asks, pulling back. Something, Rebekah notes, the girl looks disappointed about. Katherine doesn't answer the question, keeping her hands on Stefan's wrists.

 

“I came for Elena,” she says instead, allowing a moment for it to sink in.

 

“You're leaving.”

 

She nods.

 

“There's no reason for us to stay.”

 

Rebekah holds back a scoff, thinking that there's plenty of reasons to stick it out. Helping one of her so-called best friends survive becoming a sacrificial lamb, the first thing that comes to mind. But of course Stefan says nothing along those lines, never once asking those close to him to put themselves in harm's way. He pulls her into a hug again, chin burrowed into her shoulder, while Katherine whispers something into his ear and Rebekah can't help but listen in.

 

“I know you couldn't, because of her, but for me-”

 

“I know,” he whispers back.

 

Rebekah wonders if he's always known.

 

Elena comes into the room then, bag slung over her shoulder, and walks right up to them throwing her arms around both. Rebekah isn't sure how long they stay that way, not wanting to count the awkward seconds she's compelled to keep looking, and they only break apart when Caroline struts in still picking the glass out of her hair from Sheila's half decimated kitchen.

 

“Okay,” she says regarding the three of them with a curious glance. “What'd I miss?”

 

/\

 

Rebekah's head rests idly on Stefan's shoulder, listening to the sounds of an encompassing nighttime forest. He's hardly said more than a few sentences since Katherine and Elena walked out the door yesterday, his brow becoming ever more creased and brooding.

 

Caroline's eyes are everywhere, impatiently waiting for Kenneth to appear out of the ether. He does exactly that a few minutes later, a calm smile present, as if he hadn't promised impending doom mere hours ago.

 

“I really thought I'd have to track you all down,” he says with irritating nonchalance.

 

She feels Stefan tense at Kenneth's presence, having no clue how he must feel in the moment.

 

“So you're him,” Stefan states, rising to his feet.

 

“I would say the one and only,” Kenneth replies with a shrug. “But that's hardly the case anymore, is it?”

 

Rebekah and Caroline's eyes meet, the sight of them together not entirely new, but the other comparative moment so brief it never had a chance to register.

 

Kenneth steps so close they're only inches apart, looking his counterpart up and down, Stefan never flinching.

 

“Don't let yourself entertain the idea that, just because we share the same handsome face, I won't snap your neck.”

 

Caroline moves the same time as Rebekah, but of course Kenneth is faster than both, pulling Stefan into a headlock.

 

“Now, now ladies,” he taunts. “Let's not let this get messy.”

 

They don't move, and after a moment, Kenneth lets go. Stefan gasps, falling to the ground, and both she and Caroline are at his side instantly.

 

“What is it about you,” Kenneth wonders aloud. “That has these two lovely gals so wrapped around your finger?”

 

Stefan shrugs them off, rising to his feet again.

 

“Oh right,” Kenneth goes on. “They wish you were me.”

 

“If you really wanted to kill me,” Stefan says, voice slightly gruff. “I'd be dead.”

 

“Too true.”

 

“So what do you want?”

 

“Oh, this has never been about what I want,” Kenneth says, clasping his hands together. “It's what she wants.”

  
Great, Rebekah thinks with a roll of her eyes. Another player, another game, with hardly any answers forthcoming.

 

“So what does _she_ want?” Stefan reiterates.

 

“Some curses should never be broken,” Kenneth answers. “Creatures of the night, and all that.”

 

“And we're just supposed to believe you?” Caroline chimes in. “It's hard to imagine a vampire who doesn't want to walk in the sun.”

 

“Believe what you will,” Kenneth responds with a sigh. “I'm just the messenger.”

 

Stefan takes the stones from his pocket and tosses them at Kenneth's feet.

 

“Are you stupid?” Caroline shouts, while Rebekah's own mouth drops open in shock.

 

“Honestly,” Stefan says, keeping his gaze forward. “I don't care what you do with them. So long as you leave us out of it.”

 

“Ah, there's the rub,” Kenneth replies, stooping to pick up the stones. “There's no breaking the curse without the doppelganger, but there's no destroying these without him either.”

 

/\

 

The smell of hay is prevalent, eyes fluttering open to three red wood-paneled walls, capped off with a door of bars. Caroline lays a few feet away, unconscious and unmoving, head twisted at an angle that's going to leave her as sore as Rebekah feels when she comes to. Stefan isn't with them, no surprise there, but the sight of Kenneth just past the bars is.

 

“Morning sunshine,” he says with a small wave.

 

“Where's Stefan?”

 

He doesn't answer.

 

“Where is he?” She asks again.

 

“With her,” he says, leaning closer and running a finger along the bars.

 

She jumps to her feet quicker than recommended, losing her balance on the uneven ground, head still woozy from having her neck snapped.

 

“Do I at least get the name of the woman intent on killing my boyfriend?” She asks, lifting herself up and dusting off her hands.

 

“Love that accent,” he deflects. “Have I told you how much I love the accent?”

 

She shoots him a glare.

 

“Claudia,” he answers, head turning away.

 

“She told you to come here, didn't she?”

 

He doesn't say anything.

 

“I'd gather she was the reason you came around the first time.”

 

“The ritual was doomed without a doppelganger,” he says, head tilted in some kind of reminiscence. “And I was to gather the stones once that mistake came to fruition, but I failed.”

 

“So what were we then?” She asks, looking down at Caroline's still frozen form. “Time better spent?”

 

“You were unexpected,” he answers, looking back to her. “Enchanting. I liked the idea of a world with the two of you in it, so I made it happen.”

 

Rebekah has always suspected there to be no true reason, love or otherwise, as to why they were turned. But to hear him admit as much still pings painfully inside her chest.

 

“I know I've never given you a reason to think otherwise, but I did love you. Caroline too.”

 

“Is that why you fled as soon as you made us?”

 

“I fled because I couldn't get the stones. Because I wasn't willing to sacrifice my freedom by walking into that tomb. Because my punishment was going to be severe, and the further away I was, the less likely Claudia would have ripped the hearts from your chest.”

 

 _Liar_ , she wants to shout. He doesn't care, he never cared. They were pawns to him. Fools in a game he likes to play with his mistress, or master, or whatever the hell this Claudia is to him.

 

“I'm jealous that you could be so happy,” he offers. “For whatever that's worth.”

 

“Considering you're fully compliant is destroying that happiness, I'd say it isn't worth a damn.”

 

He looks to the floor, no snide comment, or clever retort follows.

 

The wheels in her mind spin in the silence. Worry for Stefan, Caroline, and the true possibility of her own demise. She wants to rips those bars from their hinges, club him across the head, and rescue Stefan from whatever fate is thrust upon him. No chance of it happening, but a girl can dream. She hates feeling so trapped, so helpless. Knowing there's someone she loves in danger and pain, with absolutely nothing to be done about it.

 

Kenneth looks different suddenly, in this contemplative moment, neither the cocky vampire lothario nor the cunning com man. Rather, this is what the boy he once was must have looked like however many millenia ago.

 

“This may seem like a stupid question,” she starts, breaking the silence. “But you've never struck me as the type to be at anyone's beck and call.”

 

“I didn't hear a question.”

 

“Getting to it. Why do you bow to her?”

 

“Excuse me?” He shoots back with a scowl. “I bow to no one.”

 

“Sorry, it seems like you do.”

 

“She made me,” he says evenly. “She easily could have killed me, but didn't. Instead she let the stones exist for another five hundred years, simply because I asked. There's a certain gratitude in that.”

 

“A valid reason,” she admits. “But it doesn't sound like the whole story.”

 

“Okay Freud,” he laughs, though not mockingly, a bizarre self depreciating sound that seems so foreign coming from his lips. . “You want inside my head? Fine.”

 

He taps a few of the bars, the sound echoing throughout.

 

“Everything I do, everything I've ever done, is because sometimes she loves me back.”

 

/\

 

There's a body in the middle of the floor when she comes to again.

 

Caroline is no longer out cold, but on her knees next to it. To him.

 

“No,” she whispers desperately. “Please no.”

 

Her fingers go to his mouth, but she feels no breath. To his neck, but she feels no pulse. His eyes are mercifully closed, as the tears begin to spill from her own. A sorrow so overwhelming, it weighs heavy in her bones. The one she's loved more than anything, growing colder by the second. Caroline doesn't say a word, reaching a hand out, and Rebekah falls easily into her sister's arms.

 

It's then she notices that the bars are open. No need to be held prisoner when the deed is done, now is there?

 

Caroline's fingers run through her hair, and Rebekah feels a kiss placed atop her head.

 

“Don't be sad Bekah,” she says. “Everything is going to be okay.”

 

“How?” She asks. “How could it possibly?”

 

“We're not in mourning,” Caroline continues. “We're in wait.”

 

Rebekah pulls away.

 

“I know I promised I'd never compel him-”

 

“What?”

 

“But I lied,” she confesses. “I'm a lying liar, who lies.”

 

“What have you done?”

 

She looks away.

 

“ _Caroline_.”

 

“Gave him my blood.”

 

Rebekah's insides twist with mixed emotion. Anger, pain, betrayal, and a sudden radiant happiness all twirling in a violent mess.

 

How could you? She thinks. How dare you? _Thank you, thank you, thank you._

 

She wants to smack her sister. Kiss her, hug her, or snap her bloody neck all over again.

 

In the end none of those things happen, kneeling next to Caroline she leans over to place a kiss on his still cheek, and waits for the most beautiful boy she's ever met to open his eyes.   

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a gifset I saw on tumblr. 
> 
> wesleysabs:
> 
> AU Meme || S2 ROLE REVERSAL Stebekah/Steroline Part I/II: Stefan as the doppelgänger (Elena). Caroline as the impulsive vampire in love with her sister’s boy (Damon). Rebekah as the broody one (Stefan).


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